'Power teaching' builds student engagement muscles

Published: Monday, June 14, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 1:35 p.m.

DELCAMBRE — With a clap of her hands, Alta David gives the instruction to her students: "Teach."

Without hesitation the group responds with a collective clap and "OK." The students, grouped in pairs, turn to each other and begin discussing the lesson of the day — haiku.

Each day, in David's fourth-grade English classes at Delcambre Elementary, students learn from her as much as each other.

"My kids are 100 percent engaged all the time," David said. "It's called power teaching. It keeps kids very involved. They're required to do the thinking and talking, and I'm more of a facilitator of learning."

David, 31, has taught for the past nine years and was recently recognized as the region's elementary school teacher of the year.

The honor places her among 24 finalists for Louisiana Teacher of the Year honors. The overall state winner, as well as an overall elementary-, middle- and high-school teacher of the year, will be named in July.

David, as well as Debbie Reed, of Broussard Middle, and Julia Williams, of Lafayette High, were named regional finalists.

David grew up in Iberia Parish in Lydia and Coteau and was inspired by her own fourth-grade teacher to educate others. David was a struggling reader until the teacher began working with her one on one.

"It amazed me that she cared so much," David said. "I wanted kids to feel the same way. That they're the most important thing in the room and that their success matters."

David is a lead teacher in Iberia Parish and also serves as a school system instructor of an online course on implementing technology in the classroom.

David also spends time with students at all grade levels through her role as director of the drama club she created at the school. She also directs her own dance studio in Delcambre, Dance Depot.

She and her husband, Jeff, have two children: Taylor Jade, 12, and Braxton Jay, 2.

She credits her own mother, Pat Boudreaux, as her first teacher.

"Officially, that was not her title, but in my eyes she was the perfect teacher, the perfect angel," David said.

Boudreaux joined David's class for the haiku lesson which took classes outdoors for a walking field trip around the school to find inspiration for their haiku.

Before sending them off, David recapped what they had learned about the unique poetry form.

"The trickiest part is the syllables," she told them.

Together they counted out the syllables in each of her lines. The final line had too many syllables.

"So what do I need to do?" she asked the class.

"Rewrite!" they said in unison.

After her corrected version, she told students: "What I want you to do is be inspired. I just want you to look around."

On the journey, students found caterpillars, leaves, flowers and dragonflies as sources of inspiration.

Two girls ran over to David, with a leaf: "There's baby caterpillars on it!"

The students' poems will be included in a book that David publishes for her classes at the end of each year.

The hands-on activities are part of David's strategy to continually engage students in the task at hand.

"Whatever it takes to make the kids learn and make them successful to master any skill," she said.

<p>DELCAMBRE — With a clap of her hands, Alta David gives the instruction to her students: "Teach."</p><p>Without hesitation the group responds with a collective clap and "OK." The students, grouped in pairs, turn to each other and begin discussing the lesson of the day — haiku.</p><p>Each day, in David's fourth-grade English classes at Delcambre Elementary, students learn from her as much as each other.</p><p>"My kids are 100 percent engaged all the time," David said. "It's called power teaching. It keeps kids very involved. They're required to do the thinking and talking, and I'm more of a facilitator of learning."</p><p>David, 31, has taught for the past nine years and was recently recognized as the region's elementary school teacher of the year.</p><p>The honor places her among 24 finalists for Louisiana Teacher of the Year honors. The overall state winner, as well as an overall elementary-, middle- and high-school teacher of the year, will be named in July.</p><p>David, as well as Debbie Reed, of Broussard Middle, and Julia Williams, of Lafayette High, were named regional finalists.</p><p>David grew up in Iberia Parish in Lydia and Coteau and was inspired by her own fourth-grade teacher to educate others. David was a struggling reader until the teacher began working with her one on one.</p><p>"It amazed me that she cared so much," David said. "I wanted kids to feel the same way. That they're the most important thing in the room and that their success matters."</p><p>David is a lead teacher in Iberia Parish and also serves as a school system instructor of an online course on implementing technology in the classroom.</p><p>David also spends time with students at all grade levels through her role as director of the drama club she created at the school. She also directs her own dance studio in Delcambre, Dance Depot.</p><p>She and her husband, Jeff, have two children: Taylor Jade, 12, and Braxton Jay, 2.</p><p>She credits her own mother, Pat Boudreaux, as her first teacher.</p><p>"Officially, that was not her title, but in my eyes she was the perfect teacher, the perfect angel," David said.</p><p>Boudreaux joined David's class for the haiku lesson which took classes outdoors for a walking field trip around the school to find inspiration for their haiku.</p><p>Before sending them off, David recapped what they had learned about the unique poetry form.</p><p>"The trickiest part is the syllables," she told them.</p><p>Together they counted out the syllables in each of her lines. The final line had too many syllables.</p><p>"So what do I need to do?" she asked the class.</p><p>"Rewrite!" they said in unison.</p><p>After her corrected version, she told students: "What I want you to do is be inspired. I just want you to look around."</p><p>On the journey, students found caterpillars, leaves, flowers and dragonflies as sources of inspiration.</p><p>Two girls ran over to David, with a leaf: "There's baby caterpillars on it!"</p><p>The students' poems will be included in a book that David publishes for her classes at the end of each year.</p><p>The hands-on activities are part of David's strategy to continually engage students in the task at hand.</p><p>"Whatever it takes to make the kids learn and make them successful to master any skill," she said.</p>